ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Judith Pendergast is currently the Director of Planning, Marketing and Communications for the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS). Prior to holding this position, Ms. Pendergast served as the Director of Government Affairs for the Michigan Nurses Association and as the Executive Administrator for the Wisconsin Nurses Association. In addition, Ms. Pendergast has twenty years of clinical nursing experience in emergency services. Ms. Pendergast holds a diploma in nursing from Mercy Medical Center School of Nursing in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, a baccalaureate degree from Marian College in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and a juris doctor degree from Marquette University School of Law in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Silvia Boecker an attorney in private practice in Virginia, has served as Chair of AILA's Greater Chicago Chapter and as President of the Chicago Bar Association Committee on Immigration Law. She is the author of many articles on immigration issues for nurses. She has degrees in Latin American Studies from the University of Denver and in Spanish from Oberlin College, and a J.D. from DePaul University. Ms. Boecker served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Philippines.

Winifred Carson-Smith has been the nurse practice counsel for the
American Nurses Association for over ten years. In this role, she is responsible for assisting and supporting the association in the development of standards, policy and other tools related to nursing practice. Windy also litigates nursing cases, provides legal opinions on nursing practice and clinical issues, and responds to legal inquiries related to nursing. Prior to joining the ANA, she worked in legal, legislative and regulatory positions with the District of Columbia government, the Maryland General
Assembly and the U.S. Senate. Windy writes and lectures on nursing practice. She has written on legal issues related to nursing for numerous academic and professional journals. Windy is a regular contributor to the American Nurse, Nurse Practitioner and magazines. Windy published a chapter on advanced practice nursing in the 2002 edition of the Health Law Handbook. She authors a regular column on legal and practice issues for NP World News; and she recently completed an articles on nurse practitioner malpractice for Nurse Practitioner magazine and the legal implications of genetics and genome research on nursing practice for the Genome Information
Project , Zeta Phi Beta Sorority. Windy was the only nonnurse recognized for her advocacy on advanced practice nursing issues by Nurse Practitioner magazine (2000). She sits on the Editorial Advisory Boards of Health Law
Week and The American Journal for Nurse Practitioners. She speaks nationally and internationally on the legal issues related to nursing.
Windy has been an active member of the American Bar Association, and serves as one of the co-chairs of the Medicine and Law subcommittee, TIPS Committee.

Marilyn D. Dimas practices immigration law in Potomac, Maryland. She was formerly President of Global Health Care, Inc. a foreign nurse recruitment and placement company. Apart from her law practice, she is currently President of Nurse America, Inc. a Foreign Nurse Immigration Consulting Firm offering advice and expertise in setting up recruitment programs, marketing and legal strategies for immigrating registered nures.

Amy L. Jerdee is an associate in Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren, S.C.'s Health Care Department. Her practice includes regulatory and transactional health law issues. Ms. Jerdee received her Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing, with honors, from Michigan State University. Prior to law school, Ms. Jerdee was a Cardiac Surgical Intensive Care Unit Nurse at Mayo Medical Center in Rochester, Minnesota. Ms. Jerdee is currently licensed as a Registered Nurse in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Ms. Jerdee obtained her law degree, cum laude, from the University of Minnesota in 2001, where she was an Articles Editor for the Minnesota Law Review. She was also the 2001 recipient of the Elaine Osborne Jacobsen Award for Women working in Health Care Law. This is a national award given by the Roscoe Pound Foundation in Washington, D.C. She was also the recipient of the 2002 Cynthia Ellen Northrop New Advocate Award given by The American Association of Nurse Attorneys. Ms. Jerdee authored "Heparin-Associated Thrombocytopenia: Nursing Implications" published in Critical Care Nurse in 1998; and "Breaking Through the Silence: The Minnesota Pregnancy Presumption and the Right to Refuse Medical Treatment," published in the Minnesota Law Review in 2000. Ms. Jerdee is a member of the State Bar of Wisconsin, the American Bar Association, the Milwaukee Bar Association, the American Health Lawyers Association and The American Association of Nurse Attorneys.

Sheela Murthy has been on the Executive Committee of the Washington D.C. Chapter of AILA. Before that, she was the Chair of the Liaison Committee to the Department of Labor for Maryland, Virginia and Washington D.C. for the AILA D.C. Chapter. She is Co-Chair for the American Immigration Law Foundation (AILF)'s Annual Immigrant Achievement Awards program, which selects and recognizes brilliant immigrants who have made outstanding contributions to American life. Ms. Murthy is regularly interviewed by television network affiliates to discuss immigration law issues. She is also featured in many international publications for her worldwide practice in U.S. immigration law. Ms. Murthy has been on the Board of Governors of the Harvard Club of Maryland (2001-2002). She is a member of the American Bar Association (ABA) and has been a Member of the Immigration Law Coordinating Committee of the ABA (1999-2001). She is AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell.

Sherry L. Neal is a partner at Hammond Law Group, LLC in Cincinnati, Ohio. She is a member of AILA's National Healthcare Committee, Vice Chair of the Ohio Chapter of AILA and is a member of the National Foreign Nurse Taskforce. She is the author of Non-Immigrant Options for Foreign Workers, AILA Healthcare Handbook, (to be published). She was an Adjunct Professor at Temple College, Ohio (1997-2004).

Bobbi Pierce is currently the lead analyst in the Licensing Program for the California Board of Registered Nursing. For the past 18 years, Ms. Pierce has served as the Board's expert analyst for international nursing education and she oversees the evaluation of RN applications from over 6,000 nursing schools worldwide. In addition, she is the lead staff member for advanced practice nursing evaluation and certification. In her capacity, Ms. Pierce has made numerous presentations to college nursing directors, nursing students, and nursing recruiters, and she has consulted with dignitaries from Japan, the Philippines, Norway, Great Britain, and Russia. She has assisted the Board in developing its resource and reference library, educated numerous new Board staff, and been instrumental in reviewing and developing new policies and regulations. In her legislative liaison capacity, Ms. Pierce has had the opportunity to become familiar with many of the challenges and unique situations that face international applicants in their efforts to seek RN licensure in the United States.

Rae Ramsdell is Licensing Manager at the Bureau of Health Professions at the Department of Community Health in the state of Michigan.

Donna Richardson is the Director of Advocacy and Quality Assurance for CGFNS/ICHP. She oversees the Ombudsman, quality assurance and education and training units. She is also responsible for monitoring legislative and regulatory initiatives on immigration, professional standards and licensure affecting health care professionals. From 1989 - 1994 she was Director of Governmental Affairs for the American Nurses Association. A registered nurse and attorney, Ms. Richardson is counsel to the law firm of Joan Wilbon and Associates and Assistant Professor of Nursing and Medicine at Howard University. She is a graduate of Akron City Hospital School of Nursing, Akron University and Howard University Law School.

Carla Tarazi is a Senior Associate with Berry Appleman & Leiden. She is a member of the San Francisco Bar Association Volunteer Legal Services Program which provides pro bono legal services. She also currently serves as a member of the AILA California Service Center (CSC) Liaison Committee.

Klari B. Tedrow practices in the area of immigration and naturalization in
Birmingham, Alabama. She has extensive experience with physician waivers, nurses, therapists, and other healthcare professionals. She is an adjunct professor at Cumberland School of Law. She came to the United States as a refugee from Hungary, whose parents escaped the violent Revolution of 1956 by swimming a large canal into Austria with two small children.